There’s nothing like a big, multi-day photo shoot to kick off your August. I spent this Tuesday-Saturday in the Hamptons not hobnobbing with the stars, but gleefully working my tail off pulling together an entertaining and decorating ideas story for Better Homes & Gardens.

One of the great things about living in Connecticut is that you can actually just hop a ferry to the Hamptons instead of slogging along the LIE.

Of course once you get there, traffic can be intense! I’m constantly trying to figure out where are all these people going?

I can’t reveal what our story is about. You’ll actually have to wait until next summer to see it, but I can tell you it involved skills like these.

Besides being in a beautiful spot I also had the best crew, including the design director of Better Homes & Gardens, Shelley Caldwell, and homes editor Diana Dickinson, who has the unique ability to hypnotize chickens.

We were all there to shoot Maxwell Gillingham Ryan, founder of Apartment Therapy. He found a strategic location under a tree where the wifi was good, making for the perfect outdoor office.

Even though there were also some famous sitings (Alec Baldwin, Brooke Shields, Steve Kroft, Kenny G.) The real star of the show this week was Lola (check her Instagram hashtag #loladognyc). A natural model, we couldn’t stop cooing over her. There’s just no competing with a French bulldog.

After the shoot I was thrilled to see the Serena & Lily pop-up store while I was there too. It’s just as good as Instagrammed by Quintessence and so many others!

How do you make it look like the middle of July while it’s snowing outside? I share a few tips and talk about shooting on Nantucket in March for the July-August issue of New England Home on their blog here.

This week in Instagram photos says it all (like why I don’t blog everyday—I’m working). Last Friday night it was JFK-SLC.

I was headed with my partner Michael Partenio to shoot at Mustang Monument, one of the most glorious places on earth you could ever visit. Located 2 1/2 hours outside of Salt Lake City and 25 miles south of Wells, Nevada, Mustang Monument is an eco-resort (opening next summer) and wild mustang refuge.

Real cowboys are a weakness.

So is the infinite beauty of the West.

Coffee in the morning outside the teepee is almost a religious experience. In the distance you can see wild mustangs grazing in front of mountain peaks.

Here is a luxury tent where you sleep.

And of course a game tent where a friendly round of cards after dinner is a must.

Even though it was the end of July, we threw on jackets and gathered around the campfire to hear the wonderfully talented Hunter of Hunter and Avery.

If you’re anywhere near Stamford, Connecticut, today please join me and a whole cast of design-lovers at Wakefield Design Center for an afternoon of design insights and presentations by Oly Studio, Vanguard, Farrow & Ball, and Osborne & Little. At 4:30 Cindy Rinfret will be talking about design and signing copies of her new book Greenwich Style-Inspired Family Homes (I have the cover photo and styled much of the book).

Come for snacks, come for wine, or bring your portfolio for me to see!

Like this:

I cannot stress to you the importance of having some type of art in your decor. It is the ultimate self-expression in your interiors and if you’re looking to have your house published it is a make or break. None of the magazines I work for would publish a home unless there’s art in it.

Saturday I did a little tour of a few of my favorite Litchfield County design stores. I got my fashion fix at B. Johnstone in Kent, picked up some jewelry at the Satya trunk show at J. Seitz in New Preston, and got to see the new Privet House store in New Preston (a full post on that later).

In the dozen years I’ve been working as a stylist in New England I have to say the biggest change has been the embrace of contemporary design. This has been a huge movement among all ages of homeowners and types of architects and designers. Kristine Irving, a designer in Boston, was one of the first to pick up on this and deliver what I would call contemporary living with a warm personality. In this particular project shot by Laura Moss for New England Home and styled by me, she took a classic Beacon Hill townhouse gave it a sleek look for a young family.

Here’s the entry way.

And the mudroom. I loved having the round tires of the bike in here to offset all the straight lines

The living room.

The living and dining are open to one another.

There’s a kitchenette on the same level.

On the upper floors are the master bedroom and bath. I loved adding the flokati to the bathroom to add softness and a sense of warmth.

Even though this appeared in the magazine almost four years ago it still has a freshness that holds your interest.